By Patrick Yost
Editor

    City of Madison property owners can expect a 16 percent hike in property taxes in 2009.
    The Madison City Council Monday officially adopted its fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget that includes a 16 percent increase in revenue generated by property taxes.
    Madison City Manager David Nunn said increases in fuel costs, healthcare costs and salary increases contributed in large part to the projected rise in revenues.
    For FY 2008, the city is projecting it will collect $950,000 in property tax revenue.
    Next year, Nunn said, the city will need $1,110,000 to fuel its annual general fund budget. “We’ve got to have that much money to make ends meet,” he said. Nunn said the increase would also prompt the council to raise its millage rate.
    Last year the city lowered its millage rate to 3.132 mils based on an explosive growth of county tax parcel re-evaluations.
    That rate will increase to approximately 3.995 mills to satisfy the tax increase, Nunn projected.
    Also, Nunn is projecting that the city will increase the cost of water for municipal customers by eight percent next year. Last year the city raised the water rates by 10 percent.
    Nunn said the eight percent increase, which will take effect in January 2009, will add another $100,000 in revenue to the city’s water fund, rising from a projected $1.7 million in 2008 to $1.8 million at the end of 2009.
    The increase should also add another $50,000 to the city’s sewage fund, increasing its annual revenue from a projected $900,000 to $950,000.
    At the meeting, the budget was approved unanimously by the council. “None of us ever like to see an increase in taxes, but that’s the world we’re in right now,” said Madison Mayor Tom DuPree.
    “This keeps our fiscal responsibility of this city in good shape.”